legacycentral bbs

I have a USDM car with auto seat belts. I seriously HATE those.

On top of that, the 18 years old seat belts seems to be giving me a rash every time it wraps around my shoulder. Disgusting?

I want to switch to manual belts, and preferably get new or newer seat belts as all the 4 belts are starting to 'shred' in various places.


What is the cheapest and easiest way to do it? I don't think I want to trust junk yard belts!


ex: Will these work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PAIR-WAL ... 037wt_1165

I don't know that you have a choice. If you want manual belts the only way I know of is canadian belts and they'll cost you. Cost me about $300 for mine including the headliner and trim pieces which you will need if you don't want it to look like ass. Might be able to get some from a GC impreza but I haven't seen anyone do it yet.

As Kimo mentioned, there is no easy option. The Canadian belts and trim is the best option. It requires swapping out the headliner and some work to get everything to fit. There are some differences in the lower carpet and chassis area which requires a little modification to get it to fit and look right. Also, the buckle assembly is connected in a different manner which causes the buckle assembly to be raised.

Here is my thread with all the info on my conversion and links to pictures. This should give you an idea of what's involved.

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=41584

I would think it would be easier to swap over to manual belts getting everything from the junkyard. I saw someone else do it and he made it seem like it was no big deal.

From what car though?

Baddog wrote:I would think it would be easier to swap over to manual belts getting everything from the junkyard. I saw someone else do it and he made it seem like it was no big deal.

As I mentioned, there are some changes in the body sheet metal on the manual vs auto seat belt cars. It's minor, but it depends on how picky you are in keeping everything looking stock.

I put in manual belts from a 2nd gen Legacy. That required very minor trimming of the belt retractor housing and the pocket in the B pillar where it mounts. Minor trimming as in rounding corners and such. I used my old auto belt tracks to remount the trim. I cut the B pillar trim off so that the bottom just covers the upper belt anchor. If you're looking at the finished product, it is a touch ghetto. But only a couple friends have ever noticed.

Any pictures?

yea guys im sorry i should have ripped out my seat belts and trim i would have gave it to a fellow legacycentral person for free just pay for shiping. but i sent it to the wrecker not even thinking left the seats every thing and all interior was good except for driver side panel

Thanks for the info,

I will hit the junk yard this week and see what is available.


Update: I just received a pair of 2002+ Impreza front seats.

Not knowing how the seat belts are going to be affected, I want to know if anyone 'swapped' seats with the auto belts before? And how was it?

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=29668

There's several other folks that have also done the swap. You can move the auto seat belt lap belt to the new seats. It will sit a little higher. I've read where folks have cut it, shortened it, and rewelded back together.

If you could share some pictures, that would be much appreciated.

fngearhead wrote:I put in manual belts from a 2nd gen Legacy. That required very minor trimming of the belt retractor housing and the pocket in the B pillar where it mounts. Minor trimming as in rounding corners and such. I used my old auto belt tracks to remount the trim. I cut the B pillar trim off so that the bottom just covers the upper belt anchor. If you're looking at the finished product, it is a touch ghetto. But only a couple friends have ever noticed.

I've got a few pics here: http://fngearhead.smugmug.com/Cars/Suba ... 1916_Zn3uM
Let me know if you have more questions. It was a fairly easy install. Just make sure you get the proper buckles. My dog chewed one of the belts and when I replaced it, I discovered the hard way that there are 2 different buckle styles on the newer Subis.